Alchemy For Life

Social Media and You

If you’re on social media, whether it’s the Boomers Gone Wild of Facebook, the Graphic (in many ways) Instagram, the Millennial-Controlled Tiktok or the ‘business-oriented’ Linkedin, you will see the kind of posts I’m about to talk about.

Drawing a line in the sand… in your face

Some people post things full of words—typically a graphic telling you in no uncertain terms a bit of advice. You will see these over and over again, and the more you read the more you’ll get the impression that they are not talking to you.

They are talking to themselves. It’s like they are looking in the mirror talking to themselves and you are forced to sit on the toilet seat next to them and watch—over and over again.

Two sides of the same coin

If you are someone who posts things like this, I am not trying to diminish your enthusiasm. If you have read The Status Game II (or will read my upcoming The Status Game III – Beyond Status) then you know that they most powerful emotion we can feel is validation. If you’ve listened to Stolen validation then you know what I am about to say.

Stolen validation

(I encourage you to listen to that episode). If you tell everyone you’re going to lose weight, then you’ll get kudos and pats on the back and bask in the warm and fuzzy validation. And then… nothing. Why? Because you’ve already received your kudos, so why even do it.

You just stole the reward from your future self.

Your Journey vs. The End Results

It is far more satisfying to share the results of your journey—which can include the entire chronicled journey—rather than to attempt to chronicle the journey in real time. And I’d submit it’s far less risky. Because failing in private (and perhaps regrouping and trying a different attack) is less painful than failing in public—in real time.

Those that are doing it just do it. Those that aren’t constantly post about it.

So if you have a lot to say and want to impart wisdom, that’s one thing. But if you are shouting into the void when it’s actually your bathroom mirror please don’t make us sit on the toilet and watch you.

Listen to the episode for the full conversation. This article is a summation for you.